Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 3 September 2015 | Page 8

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE
In the morning they waited for the kind celebrant but he did not arrive and no-one
seemed to know of him. The priests returned home and on seeing the likeness of his
vision, Lazarus took it as a sign and declared a chapel should be built. The Bishop
granted permission in March of 1712. Four years later the Virgen de Saliente was in
place, on the very spot she appeared to Lazarus.
From humble beginnings a massive shrine emerged and with it the popular belief that
the building had as many doors and windows as days in a year. Built around a
rectangular courtyard, but no longer standing in the exact place of Lazarus' vision, the
large terrace to the front, affords superb views to Albox and beyond. Almond
plantations cover the mountainside and as I gaze on the slope below, I look on a place
where a miraculous event occurred.
Annually, on 7 and 8 September a pilgrimage wends its way from Albox to Saliente.
La Pequeñica is carried aloft, amid a vast procession of villagers and visitors, to her
home in the Chapel of El Santuario. Historically, the faithful made the journey barefoot, the penitent, on their knees. More recently, the trek has become a celebratory
event, firecrackers sounding en route and culminating in a party atmosphere.
No longer inhabited by Holy Orders, the Sanctuary is a hostelry, restaurant and
retreat but it retains its history. To wander through the many rooms, to right and left
of the altar, and those around the courtyard, is to experience times past. Above all, it
is to feel at peace with the World. WA
For more information visit this page on Choose Almeria website

La Pequeñica.

8|September 2015